Quite a Night

It was a see-and-be-seen kind of crowd last night for DeMatha-St. John's. Among those I saw: Georgetown Coach John Thompson III and assistant Kevin Broadus; George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga and assistant James Johnson; Paul VI Coach Levi Franklin, who watched from the upper concourse after arena officials allowed overflow crowd to begin standing there; D.C. Assault's Curtis Malone; Oak Hill standout and Duke recruit Nolan Smith; Georgetown players Vernon Macklin and Jessie Sapp; former Eleanor Roosevelt All-Met guard Ray Brewer; Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner and a few players, including junior Max Kenyi. I was told that former Riverdale Baptist All-Met Mike Beasley also was there. And those are just the notables I saw.

As for the game, St. John's guard Chris Wright and DeMatha guard Austin Freeman were terrific; the two All-Met guards and Georgetown recruits scored 31 and 27 points, respectively. St. John's also got a boost from 6-11 Vlad Moldoveanu, who started slow but seemed to find his range and the George Mason recruit finished with 20 points, one off his season high.

Meantime, Brewer, who spent last year at Patterson (N.C.) Prep, said he is attending classes at Miami-Dade Junior College and intends to play next year at Kansas State. Brewer originally committed to Manhattan last year before the Jaspers had a coaching change. He subsequently enrolled at Kansas State, but was unable to become eligible and said the Wildcats recommended he go to Miami-Dade, where he is going to school but not playing basketball, with the intent of preserving his four years of eligibility.

In football, DeMatha Coach Bill McGregor said linebacker Justin Brown is bound for Monmouth and quarterback Chester Stewart, who enjoyed success in his first season as a starter, will follow through on his commitment to Temple. "We were talking about opening it up in October and said to Chester, 'Which way are you going to go?' " McGregor said. "Because you can't do that to Temple. He wanted the scholarship. He's committed and will sign."